Printer-friendly versionGender-bending and Environmental Justice: The Way We Talk About Endocrine Disruption
Dayna Nadine Scott, co-director of the National Network on Environments and Women’s Health and Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, presented a lively webinar on March 18. During the webinar, Scott discussed the environmental health effects of long-term, low-dose exposure to pollutants, with a focus on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation reserve near Sarnia, Ontario.
This community, in the midst of Canada’s largest petro-chemical complex, has seen a drastic decline in male newborns in recent years. Epidemiological studies have shown that interference with a mother’s hormonal milieu can cause higher rates of miscarriage, particularly of male embryos. Scott’s talk focuses on the lessons she has learned as “a student of the discourse of endocrine disruption – or the way we talk about gender and environmental health.”
Scott suggests that environmentalists can build a broad-based social movement around environmental justice by enlisting the support of women’s health and gender activists in concerned with health issues that are caused by endocrine disrupting environmental pollutants.
Women, Gender & Disaster: What’s the Connection?
Presented in partnership with the Prairie Women’s Health Centre of Excellence
Dr. Elaine Enarson, a disaster sociologist and a founding member of Gender and Disaster Network Canada, led a fascinating webinar on March 31. Enarson’s personal experience in Hurricane Andrew sparked extensive work on disaster vulnerability and resilience. During the webinar, she discusses women’s roles in disaster preparedness and recovery, and the way that women are specifically affected by these events. She suggests strategies for government agencies and community groups working with women in disaster situations.
All CWHN webinars are recorded and available at www.cwhn.ca for viewing
Next Webinar:
Creating Climate Change for the Medical Workplace:
Lessons on physician work-life balance from around the world
Presented in partnership with the Federation of Medical Women of Canada
Thursday, April 29, 2010 from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Featuring Dr. Janet Dollin, Dr. Kathleen Gartke, Dr. Barbara Lent and Dr. Cheryl Levitt
Presenters will look at international data in context with what we have learned in Canada to ensure healthy medical workplaces, to improve gender equity in the ranks and within leadership, and to build family-friendly workplaces within our institutions.
Please email info@cwhn.ca for registration information.